How to add shelving to a built-in closet?

Shaylied

Hello my fellow DIY enthusiasts!

I am undertaking my first home project (I’ve built snake enclosures in the past) and am wanting to fit my spare bedroom that I’ve turned into my office/reptile room into a storage closet to store my reptile items plus all my crafting and enclosure building items when I’m not working on other projects.

What I’m after is the best materials to use to suspend the timber shelving as some of these items can be quite heavy plus a good way to store my tools of trade (bench grinder, hand held sander, various hand held tools like screw drivers plus some crafting items like my foam cutter). As my husband uses the garage to store his tools and we are both very particular about how we store our items (hey his got his things I’ve got mine) I’d much rather them at hand when I need them rather than have to try and find my tools in “his shed”.

I do allot of acrylic painting, card making, reptile enclosure building items (including building them out and decorating them inside and out) so shelving just seems the best option as I’ll be using plastic tubs to store them inside.

I’ve already measure the build out but materials is something that’s a bit different from a reptile enclosure since those I have to build waterproofed and be able to handle up to 45 celcius.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Shaylied. It's fabulous to have you join us and many thanks for your question on storage.

It sounds like a great project, and it’s always nice to have your own organised workspace rather than digging through someone else’s tool area!

Before people can recommend the best shelving materials or mounting method, it would really help to know a bit more about the setup. At the moment, there aren’t quite enough details to suggest the right solution.

A few things that would be useful to know:

• Do you want the shelves fixed directly to the wall, or are you thinking about a freestanding shelving system?
• What type of wall are you fixing to (plasterboard with timber studs, brick, etc.)?
• How wide and deep do you want the shelves to be?
• Roughly how much weight might each shelf need to hold (especially with tubs of tools or materials)?
• Are you planning multiple shelves floor to ceiling, or just a few larger storage shelves?

If you’re able to, it might also help to upload a quick sketch of the closet space showing where you’d like the shelves, along with how many shelves you’re thinking of. Even a simple hand-drawn diagram with measurements can make it much easier for members to give accurate advice.

As a basic answer, shelves are typically fixed to a wall with shelf brackets. The larger the shelf and the more weight you intend to place on it, the more heavy-duty the brackets need to be. For considerable weight, you want to be looking at stayed wall brackets with the fixed into the timber studs or bricks.

Once we have a better idea of the layout and loads, the community can suggest the most suitable materials, brackets, and fixing methods for you.

Looking forward to seeing your plan!

Mitchell